Lasting-machine



(No Model.)

G. MOKAY-& H. P. FAIRFIELD.

LASTING MACHINE,

Patented Dec. 6,1881.

UNTTED STATES PATENT QFFlCE.

GORDON MGKAY, OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, AND HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD,

- OF WEST MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

LASTlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,450, dated December 6, 1881,

Application filed October 17, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom "it may concern Be it known that we, GORDON MOKAY, of Newport, county of Newport, State of Rhode Island, and HADLEY P.FAIRF1ELD, of West 5 Medford, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an lmprovement in Lasting-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification. to This invention in lasting-machines is an improvement on that described in United States Letters Patent No. 231,076, dated August 10, 1880, to which reference may be had.

One feature of our present invention relates to a novel organization of mechanism to act upon the upper of the boot or shoe on the top of the foot or instep of the last, and stretch and fit the said upper closely to such part of the last. 7 Prior to our invention a girth composed of a belt or band of india-rubber, and two inelasticportions or pieces of leatherla-id thereon, has been employed by 0. W. Glidden to stretch the upper and tit it to the top of the foot or instep of the last, and so, also, a leather belt or girth adapted to yield at its median line has been used in another machine for a like purpose.

In this our invention we retain the leather 0 or other inelastic belts or portions of the said Glidden,butdispenscwiththeindia-rubberbelt or girth on which the said inelastic portions rested and instead thereof have provided an instep holder or presser to bear the said leather or inelastic portions-which we call stretchersagainst the upper on the last as the stretchers are separated or drawn apart at the median line of the last. The surface of this instep holder or pre'sser will preferably be 0 made hard and smooth by the application thereto of somehard substance-such as metal or glass-to reduce to the minimum the friction between the said presser and the under sides of the stretchers. In connection with the stretchers and presser, we employ a series of pinchers or pullers to engage the upper at its edges, and in practice we will also employ jaws or slides to act upon the upper along the sides and heel and toe of the last, to lay the edges of the upper over upon the inner sole on 5c the last.

Figure 1 represents, in side elevation and partial section,a sufficient portion of a lastingmaehine (part of its frame-work being, however, removed) toillustrate ourinvention when 5 considered in connection with ourpatent above referred to, the said figure showing the parts in the position they will occupy after the pinchers have been engaged with the upper and ajust as the machine is to be started to last a 6c shoe. Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of a machine such as shown in Fig. 1, we having left off the levers which hold the stretchers and the levers which move them, and the framework to hold the latter levers, and the devices 6 5 for moving the cross-head, the said figure, however, showing parts of the upright side frames of the machine and the toe-rest omitted from Fig. 1. In this Fig. 2 the crosshead is shown depressed, as it will be at the completion of 7c the lasting operation, the toggle-lever of rod j being, however, shown as straightened in the position it will occupy when the lasting devices are closed in and the nails or other fasteningsare being driven into the upper on the inner sole.

The pinchers or upper grasping and holding devices m means to operate them, the levers b, wedge L to move them,rod J, the cross-head k, which is to carry the downholds l m to act 8c on the inner solo on the bottom of the last A, are and will be substantially as in our said patent, so need not be herein further described than to say that the pinchers or upper-graspin g devices are made to grasp and hold or pull 8 theupperin onedirectiomwhile the usualdownholds carried by the cross-head 7c and resting on the inner sole are made to crowd the last down into the upper.

The cross-head will be moved by the rodj, 9c

toggle-joint np, and a strap or chain,s,which, with the pinchers m will be operated as in our said patent, it also being understood that the machine to be herein described will in practice contain side and heel and toe lasting plates, 9 5 jaws, or fingers, as well known and provided for in our said patent.

The instep-holder n, composed of a block of metal,pivoted atet on arod, 0 has its acting face, against which the under sides of the stretchers or inelastic or leather pieces a rest, and over which the said stretchers move laterally from the median line of the upper and last, covered preferably with asmooth, hard, unyieldingface, polished hard and very smooth, such as a glass or metal plate, 3, or a steel or metal plate supported by a sheet of india-rubher interposed between it and the main part a of the instepholder.

The hard surface is made as smooth as possible, to thus lessen the minimum friction between it and the under side of the stretchers, which thus adds very greatly to the durability of the stretchers and lessens the strain upon the parts of the machine.

The arm 6 at its front side, is provided with a short upright,5, (see Fig. 2,) but cut oif in Fig. 1, on which is pivoted a rocking, or it may be a universallymovable,toe-rest, 0 The stem of the rod 0 extended within rod -holder 6 (shown as a slotted tube,)is provided with a series of ratchet-teeth, e, which are engaged by a pawl, c pivoted at 6 upon suitable ears orming part of and projecting from the said rodholder 6 The rod-holder c is provided at its lower end with a roller, 0 which rests upon the cam lever e",- and that the said rod-holder may be moved vertically more or less at the proper times, it is slotted just above the said roller, and has extended through the said slot a pin, 0 which acts as a guide for the said holder.

Aspring, e ,is interposed between a shoulder or rod, 0 and the top of the rod-holder, the said spring being adapted to yield as the upper on the last (the upper then resting against the stretchers and the latter on the instep-holder) is forced down by the descent of the crosshead It and theusual downholds thereon,which at such time rest on the inner sole, and the pawl c retains the rod 0 in the lowest position in which it is pressed.

Referring to Fig. 1, where the parts are in position to be started to last a shoe, it will be seen thatthe pinchers have been engaged with the edges of the upper laid about the last A, immediately above the stretchers or pullers a a. The stretchersare composed of short leather straps, connected, each at its outer end, by a plate, 14;and suitable screws, with a block, a pivoted upon the upper ends of the levers a; or the said stretchers may be directly connected with the upper ends of the levers a pivoted at a on the frame-work of the machine. In this condition the hand-lever 7b is depressed to draw upon the belt 8 and force it against the positively and constantly driven pulley g, and thus straighten the toggle a p and depress the cross-head k, substantially as in the said patent. The first part of the movement of this hand-lever through its connected arm h and pin 7 acts upon the end of lever 8, pivoted at 12, and causes a pin, 10, carried thereby, to actuate the pawl e and disengage it from the ratchet-teeth of the rod 0, permitting the spring 0 to immediately lift-the said rod and throw the instep-holder against the under sides of the said stretchers about as the upper on the last meets the upper sides of the said stretchers, the toe-rest 0 being at the same time brought in position to support the toe of the upper on the last.

The continued downward movement of the cross-head causes the upper held by the pinchers to be stretched, and at the same time the upper, forced down upon the stretchers a or strong leather straps pressed against the upper firmly by the instep-holder, is further stretched and fitted closely to the last by the said stretchers,theyactingfroin the median line of the upper outward toward its edges, as in the Glidden invention. While the pinchers and stretchers act conjointy to stretch and fit the upper closely to the last about its top part at the ball and toe, all unnecessary friction at the under sides of the stretchers is avoided, as described, and the instep-holder yields or descends gradually, giving place between the lever 00 to the descending last and upper thereon. As the instep-presser and the rod 0 are depressed they are held from rising by the pawl 0 which engages the ratchet-teeth 0 When the last is depressed into its lowest position a train of mechanism under control of a tight and loose or clutch or friction pulley is started to there-' by and at that time straighten the toggle F, causing it to lift the rod J, provided with cams L K, as in our said patent, the cam L then act ing upon the levers b, causing them to operate the levers c so that their upper ends, or pertions attached to their upper ends, are forced toward each other to firmly clamp the upper against the sides of the last preparatory to the action of the cam K, which, through carriers, (shown in our said patent,) then cause the sidelasting devices (pla es or fingers) and the toe and heel lasting plates or jaws to force the sides of the upper laterally over upon the inner sole on the last, and hold the upper firmly in place until it has been tacked or fastened to the inner sole. The upper having been so fastened, the foot is placed upon the portion F of the toggle-lever F, and the toggle is sprung or bent back, as in Fig. 1, it drawing down the rod J and its cams, thus releasing the hold of the levers b and a and also the carriers shown in our former patent referred to lasting devices being in practice or in some cases roughened, they, while being drawn off the upper, would tend to draw the upper off the last; but to obviate this we have provided the toggle-lever F with a pin, g, which, as the toggle is started back, acts upon the hookf connected with the cam-lever e pivoted loosely on the rod f, and moves the said cam-lever sufficiently far in opposition to its holding spring 9 to permit the rod-holder 6 rod 6 and instep-presser and toe-support, connected as one piece by the pawl e, to descend or relieve the upper or stretchers a from pressure The under sides of the side and toe and heel,

i i I just as thelasting devices arebeing withdrawn from the upper. As soon as the lasting devices have been so withdrawn the pin 9 is disengaged from the hook f by the change of position of the toggle-lever, permitting the spring g to again restore the cam-lever e to its normal position and lift the instep-presser rest into the position shown in Fig. 1, the rod 6 being, however, yet held by the pawl e to be released, as previously described, before lasting the next shoe. The pinchers were released from the upper just before it was fastened, as described, to the inner sole, and the cross-head it" was lifted, and the carriage holding it was moved away from above the'last in the order and as described in our patent before referred to.

During the lasting operation the last A is held on a last-pin, I), supported by devices not herein described, because not of our joint invention, devices which will form the subjectmatter of another application to be made by H. P. Fairfield. We also state that the camlever 0 and means for operating it will also be claimed by the said Fairfield.

Between the upper ends of the levers b and the levers a which carry the stretchers or straps a, we have interposed arms 16, and between the said arms 16 and on the levers a we have placed springs 17, preferably of indiarubber, which provide for inequalities in the thickness of the leather or material composing the upper being lasted.

\Ve claim- 1. In a lasting-machine, the stretchers or straps a and independent in steppresser, adapted to rise and fall below and to press against the stretchers, substantially as described.

2. In a lasting-machine, stretchers or straps upon which the shoe is pressed to have its upper stretch from its median line outward, and the instep-holder having a smooth, hard, or unyielding t'ace, to reduce friction between it and the stretchers as they are drawn across the said instep-holder, substantially as described.

3. Theinstep-holder having a smooth, hard, and unyielding face, and its supporting-rod, combined with the independcnttoe-rest connected therewith, substantially as described.

4. The instep-holder, its rod provided with ratchet-teeth, and the rod-holder, and spring to lift the rod and instep-holder, combined with a pawl and means to release the pawl as the cross-head k commences to descend, substantially as described.

5. The instep-holder having a smooth, hard, unyielding surface, and the stretchers or straps a, to be acted upon by the said holder, combined with pinchers to hold the edges of the upper, and a cross-head and downholds to depress the last and upper thereon upon the stretchers while they are supported by the instep-presser, the pinchers and stretchers acting conjointly and simultaneously to stretch and fit the upper to the last, substantially as described.

6. The levers (t and the stretchers or belts actuated thereby, combined with the levers b to move the said levers a substantially as described.

7. The levers a and arms 16 and interposed springs, combined with the levers b, substantially as described.

8. The movable cross-head and means to operate it, and the instep-presser and its supporting-rod provided with a spring and ratchet, combined with a pawl to engage the said ratchet, and with means to release the pawl and depress the cross-head simultaneously, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GORDON MOKAY, HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD.

Witnesses:

BERNIGE J. NoYEs, J os. P. LIVERMORE. 

